Unit 1 of 3
Automation Fundamentals
15 min
+150 points
Learning objectives
When you finish this unit, you will be able to:
- Describe the value of model driven programmability for infrastructure automation.
- Compare controller-level to device-level management.
- Describe the use and roles of network simulation and test tools (such as VIRL and pyATS).
- Describe the components and benefits of CI/CD pipeline in infrastructure automation.
- Describe principles of infrastructure as code.
- Describe the capabilities of automation tools such as Ansible, Puppet, Chef, and Cisco NSO.
Infrastructure automation foundations
Model-driven programmability
Using structured data models (YANG) enables consistent, repeatable infrastructure configuration at scale.
Controller vs device management
- Controller-level: centralized policy and orchestration across many devices.
- Device-level: direct configuration on individual network devices.
Simulation and testing
Tools like VIRL and pyATS provide virtual labs and automated testing for network automation development.
Infrastructure as code (IaC)
Define infrastructure in code (Ansible playbooks, Terraform, etc.) for version control, repeatability, and automation.
Automation tools
- Ansible: agentless automation with YAML playbooks.
- Puppet/Chef: configuration management with agents.
- Cisco NSO: multi-vendor network orchestration.
Exam focus: compare management approaches and match automation tools to use cases.